It was displayed on the wooden bookcase in the entrance way of the city library which was reserved for new books. The display was unmarked, near where the building’s security guard sat next to the front doors, no label and no sign, but the only thing to look at
This bundle of books, with the Canadian Reading Challenge in mind (this, the eleventh year, hosted by The Indextrious Reader, with sign-ups for the twelfth year now posted), was particularly delectable. I love the idea of telling the story of a life in a way that feels true, whether
Although it played a vital role in establishing the author’s reputation for story-crafting, The Bingo Palace feels like a single dish, served without accompaniments, on what has become, in the years since, a rich and varied menu. The emphasis on story-telling was there in the beginning, however, in a
There are nearly 800 discussions about books that could be categorized as CanLit on this site, but only a few focus specifically on the act of writing: this quartet was inspired by the 11th Canadian Book Challenge, currently hosted by The Indextrious Reader. (Previous reading for the challenge has
Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2008) I thought the footnotes would make it fun (like in a Steven Haywood short story); I was more focussed on the ‘wondrous’ than the warning of brevity. In fact, Oscar’s life emerges from dictatorship and constricted choices, and you
